Is Gravity the Next Big Sci-Fi Epic?

It’s been a very disappointing summer for movies, but that doesn’t mean the whole year is lost. In fact, there’s strong early buzz for the sci-fi movie Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) and starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.

The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “jaw-dropping space thriller…At once the most realistic and beautifully choreographed film ever set in space, Gravity is a thrillingly realized survival story spiked with interludes of breath-catching tension and starling suspense.” The Reporter also tells us it’s “as close to feeling like you’re in space as most of us will ever be.”

Other reviews, like the one in The Independent, call it “a visual triumph,” even if it feels the story isn’t as solid as the visuals. “Even so, this is a film that, at its best, really will induce a sense of wonder.” The Telegraph was also blown away by the film’s visuals, and Screen International wrote, “There will be little disappoint from audiences who are likely to be thrilled by the well-sustained edge-of-the-seat thrills…”

Yes, the movie’s in 3D, but in this case, it looks like the 3D actually enhances the movie instead of being a useless gimmick. So could Gravity be the next big sci-fi epic? It would be nice to see this one do well and show Hollywood that a movie doesn’t have to be the third reboot of a comic book or the 80th installment of Fast and Furious to be successful.